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Maggie's problem
In this episode, Maggie Harper Atchley discovers that she is pregnant (and worse, it came from a rape) and she might have to raise the baby on her own. However, the family also deals with the nasty Jennifer Barrett who just has to put her two cents in; but as usual, gets slapped down like a hockey puck. Scene One Atchley Mansion. Maggie is walking to her bathroom. She is quite worried. She hasn't had a period in weeks, and she doesn't know what to make of it. Passing by her room, Mrs. Buxley is wondering what is going on. MRS. BUXLEY: Miss Maggie, are you all right? MAGGIE: No. MRS. BUXLEY: What is it, dear? (Maggie begins to sob) MAGGIE: I want my mama. (Dropping her towels, Mrs. Buxley collects the young teen in her arms.) MRS. BUXLEY: Now, Maggie, dearest. Nothing is as bad as all that. What is wrong, my dear? (Maggie is still sobbing. She is so embarrassed.) MAGGIE: I need my daddy. MRS. BUXLEY: I will get him, love. (A few minutes later, Craig is upstairs. He is collecting Maggie in his arms.) CRAIG: Sweetheart, what is wrong? MAGGIE: Oh, Daddy. I feel so rotten. CRAIG: What happened, honey? Nothing could be that bad that you would be this upset. MAGGIE: I called Dr. Stevenson at Mass General. CRAIG: What for, honey? MAGGIE: Daddy.......I am pregnant. (Mrs. Buxley and Craig are stunned.) MRS. BUXLEY: Have they talked with the father? MAGGIE: No, they haven't even tried to find him! I tried to contact him ever since I found out, and he hasn't answered me one whit. CRAIG: Do you remember who it was, dearest? MAGGIE: Remember that Ian Johnson person from the ball during the season? CRAIG: I believe I do. He works for your Uncle Dylan and Aunt Sheila. His parents did, I think. MAGGIE: Yes, Uncle Dylan and Aunt Sheila know his family. Well, one night, he took me to the Country Club after the season was over. (Along comes Steven and Samantha. They are worried. So are Dylan and Sheila, who are visiting.) SHEILA: Ian Johnson? He works in Acquisitions, if I am not mistaken. In fact, he's head of Acquisitions. He inherited the job from his dad, who worked for us when Mom was CEO. DYLAN: Maggie, what has happened? MAGGIE (bursting into tears): Ian Johnson got me pregnant. But it gets worse. SHEILA: How so, sweetheart? (Maggie is crying uncontrollably) 'SAMANTHA: Darling, do you need something? STEVEN: We can get you something to drink, my lamb. MAGGIE (still crying): I can't keep anything down. DYLAN: Sweetie, we can't help, if we don't know what happened. Something has happened that has you really upset. What did he do? MAGGIE (howling in pain): He RAPED me! He RAPED me at the country club that night! That is how I am pregnant! (The family is stunned into silence. Craig, quite understandably, is furious.) CRAIG: I am going to find that Ian Johnson. He will pay for it. MAGGIE (terrified): Daddy! Don't! I don't want you in jail. CRAIG: What he did to you, I would risk jail for. SAMANTHA: Dear, that isn't going to help matters. DYLAN: Aunt Samantha is right, Craig. Stop and think a second, bro. If you are in prison for beating him up, it wouldn't do anything but cause Maggie more stress. She needs you, you are the only parent she has. If you are not there, that will really mess her up. And you don't want that, do you? SHEILA: Dylan's right, Craig. You being in jail would make a bad situation even WORSE. CRAIG: But he would get away with it! DYLAN (determined): No, he won't, bro. He's not going to get away with this, I can promise you that! Sheila and I will confront him tomorrow before he comes into work. STEVEN: We're at your call if needed, Dyl. DYLAN: Thank you, Uncle Steven. We might take you up on that one. SAMANTHA: You're welcome dear. (Maggie sobs in her father's arms. Steven and Samantha talk themselves. Dylan and Sheila also talk about what has to be done.) Scene Two '''Dylan and Sheila's office at Harper Industries, the next day. The twins share an office and they have decorated it with their own touches. It was the same office their mother had when she was CEO and the same one their grandfather had when HE was CEO. Joanne Marsden, their administrative assistant, comes into the office and she is concerned. She has worked for the Harpers for many years, having begun working when Michelle was CEO, and she made a promise to her former boss that she would keep an eye out on her twins. JOANNE: What's wrong, you two? SHEILA (getting right to the point): Joanne, can you have Ian Johnson come to our office please? JOANNE: Of course, my dear. What is wrong? DYLAN: We'll explain it to you later, right now, we just want to get this over and done with. JOANNE: Oh.........ok. But I think I know what this is all about, right? Leslie told me something was wrong with Maggie. DYLAN: Yes, we have reason to suspect that Ian raped our niece at the country club, and now she is pregnant. JOANNE: Oh dear. I will send him over now, you can bet on that one. (Joanne goes to her desk and picks up the phone. She buzzes Ian's office. He answers.) IAN: Acquisitions, this is Ian Johnson. Can I help you? JOANNE: Mr. Johnson, Mr. Harper and Mrs. Watkins wish to have a word with you. Come to their office please. (Ian is rattled. Joanne never refers to them as Mr. Harper and Mrs. Watkins. He has a feeling something is going to happen. He walks to the office.) IAN: I am here. JOANNE (coldly): Go in. They are expecting you. (Ian flinches at the coldness of Joanne's tone. He enters the office. Dylan and Sheila glare at him. They are not pleased with him.) DYLAN (in a steely voice): I am going to ask this, and I am only going to ask this once. And you had better not lie to me, Johnson. Did you, or did you not, rape my niece? (Ian is trapped. He is scared now. They knew what he did, and why he did it.) SHEILA (coldly): Answer my brother! Did you, or did you not, rape Maggie? IAN (belligerently): She was such a good piece of ass! SHEILA (enraged): How DARE you! How DARE you say that about my niece! IAN: She was! (Dylan is not going to have his niece's name besmirched. He grabs Ian and shoves him against the wall. It is rare that he loses his temper in such a violent manner, but in this case, he is protecting his niece) DYLAN (angrily): You have gone too far this time, Johnson! I talked with Maggie and I called her doctor. She is pregnant, and you are the father of her child, you disgusting piece of shit! You took advantage of my niece! My SIXTEEN year old niece and you raped her, you piece of filth! I am ordering you to get your desk and office cleared and leave this building immediately! If you do not get your things cleared out in the next hour, I am going to have you blacklisted from this building! And I am going to call the police! I am going to have you charged with statutory rape! IAN: You think so, Harper?! I just bet you wanted her yourself! (Dylan rears back and hits him in the face. Sheila is astonished that Dylan is this angry, but she is pleased that he hit the rapist.) DYLAN: You stupid little puissant! How DARE you say that! You are a filthy little pervert! You raped my niece and you think that I would touch her in that manner?! I am nothing like you, you filth! You have no class! SHEILA (furiously): Get your desk cleaned out and clear out of your office! You're FIRED! IAN (shocked): You cannot fire me! DYLAN (enraged): The hell we can! You broke several corporate policies, and what you did to my niece was despicable! (Enter Jennifer Barrett. Dylan and Sheila have no patience with her.) IAN: I told them what I did, and whose idea it was. JENNIFER: I knew it would work! (She laughs maliciously) SHEILA: You don't belong here, you bitch! Get out of here. We've got enough problems without YOU making them worse. JENNIFER: Hah! You think so? DYLAN (near his final straw): Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here! The pair of ya! JENNIFER: No, I don't think so! You are not going to fire MY husband! SHEILA: Since when is he your husband, you damned liar?! JENNIFER: I wondered if you caught that! DYLAN: I have had enough of you both! Joanne, call security! Get these two out of here NOW! JOANNE: Right away, boss. (A security guard comes up and brutally grabs the two by the arm. Both of them are shoved towards the elevator banks.) DYLAN: We will send your possessions to you, Johnson. Now, get the hell out of here, and never come back. You will receive your final check in the mail. Now, begone with you both! (The security guard shoves the pair of them into the elevator and they are taken to the first floor, and thrown out.) SHEILA: Well, that takes care of that. The question is now, what do we do? DYLAN: We will have someone clear out his office and desk. Knowing him, he probably stole a lot of things. Then we're going to have to search for a new head of Acquisitions. SHEILA: What a mess that is. And then that bitch Barrett just had to interfere. Those two deserve one another. DYLAN: I couldn't care less about those two idiots. They mean less than NOTHING! Right now, our main priority is helping Maggie. She needs help and we're going to help her. She is what matters now. (Enter Joanne) JOANNE: They're gone, thank heavens. I'll have someone clear out his desk and office this afternoon. Now, my dears, what happened? You never were more angry than just now. SHEILA (sadly): Sit down, Joanne. You're family to us, and you deserve to know. JOANNE: Was anyone hurt? DYLAN: Yeah, our niece, Maggie. JOANNE: What happened? SHEILA (her eyes full of tears): Maggie was raped......by Ian. JOANNE: Oh dear God. No wonder you two had him fired. Is she all right? DYLAN: She's going into therapy, we're thinking of having Aja Dorrance talk to her. JOANNE: Well, I am at your disposal, if you need anything. SHEILA: Thank you, and we will certainly take you up on that one. JOANNE: That's what I am here for. I made a promise to your mother and I will keep that promise. (Joanne hugs Dylan and Sheila.) Scene Three Atchley Mansion, hours later. Mrs. Buxley hires a private nurse. Dianna Westbrooke, an ER nurse at Mass. General, comes to help her. MAGGIE: Thank you for coming. DIANNA: Thank your uncle and aunt. They were the ones who hired me. (Enter Dylan and Sheila.) SHEILA: She is one of the best nurses of all. DYLAN: Our friend, Aja Dorrance told us about her, and she recommended her. MAGGIE: Thank you both. What happened to that Ian? SHEILA: He's fired from his job, baby. Your uncle Dylan is pressing charges against him. Mainly statutory rape. MAGGIE (sadly): Man, I really made a mess of things, didn't I? DYLAN (softly): No, no, sweetheart, you did NOTHING wrong. You were attacked by a nasty piece of work. You are not to blame for any of this. This is all his fault. I will see to it that he pays for what he did. When the baby is born, I will see to it that he pays child support. MAGGIE: Thank you, Uncle Dylan, and you too, Aunt Sheila. Mom would be disappointed in me, wouldn't she? (Enter Craig, who hears Maggie's sad words.) CRAIG: No, my precious darling. She would not be. You did nothing wrong, your uncle is right. He did this to you. You were not to blame. Your mom would have understood it. SHEILA (grinning): And knowing your mom as we did, she would have gone after him with a flamethrower! (That brings a smile to Maggie.) MAGGIE: So, Mom would still have loved me? DYLAN (stunned): Why would you say that, honey? Your mother loved you very much. The sun rose and set on you as far as your mother was concerned. MAGGIE (wiping tears from her eyes): He said my mother would have disowned me. DYLAN: Oh, he did, did he?! Well, we will see about that one! But, trust me, sweetie, your mother adored you. She would move heaven and earth for you. You know, Maggie, I remember when you were just a few weeks old. You were just brought back to the house in Belgravia. After Nanny put you to bed and to sleep, your mom and I were trying to figure out names for you. It was a regular Parliament session with your uncle Alex and Aunt Sheila in on it as well. Sheila was visiting at the time. (Dylan smiles wistfully at the memory) Your Uncle Alex wanted to call you Victoria Belgravia, because of where we lived. Your mother thought that was funny and so did I. Sheila wanted to call you Clarinda, because it sounded musical. Hannah didn't know what to think of that one! (Sheila grins) I suggested Marie, because I have always loved that name; and your mother chose that for your middle name. She would eventually choose the name Margaret, but you were always called Maggie, because your mom loved anything that Maggie Smith was in. MAGGIE: So Ian was lying all the time? SHEILA: Yes, he was, sweetheart. That Ian Johnson is a liar. Your mother loved you with all her heart. She wanted to make sure you had the best. DYLAN: I will make sure he will suffer for this! Maggie, you can rest easy, honey. Ian Johnson has gone too far here. As far as he is concerned, he is finished at Harper Industries and will never work for another company in this country. I will see to THAT! (With that ominous note, the scene fades.) Category:Episodes Category:Hall of Fame Episodes Category:Episodes featuring Dylan and Sheila